'Little lungs' bill would ban smoking in vehicles with children

BOSTON -- Smokers who drive with children in their vehicles would no longer be able to light up, under legislation being considered by lawmakers on the Public Health Committee.

Rep. Paul Heroux, a freshman representative from Attleboro, wants to make it illegal to smoke with children in the car, citing health risks from secondhand smoke. Heroux said the proposed law could be enforced in a manner similar to the law banning texting while driving.

Any driver or passenger who violates the law would be subject to a $100 fine. Police officers would not be able to search or inspect a motor vehicle, or its contents, the driver, or a passenger solely because the vehicle was pulled over for the smoking violation, according to the legislation, which would apply to vehicles including children who are required to be secured by a child passenger restraint.

Heroux acknowledged his proposal would not be easy to enforce, but said he hopes it would make smokers think twice before lighting up with children in the car. Heroux also said a smoking ban when children are in the car would raise awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke, which led the Legislature and Gov.

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Mitt Romney to pass a 2004 law banning smoking in most workplaces.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke because their bodies and brains are still growing, according to the U.S. Surgeon General's Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Secondhand smoke exposure causes acute lower respiratory infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and young children. Children with asthma experience more frequent and severe attacks. And children exposed to smoke are at increased risk for ear infections, according to the Surgeon General.

Ronna Schaffer, an early childhood educator, told Public Health Committee members said she has seen the effects of secondhand smoke on young children.

Schaffer said she works with a 15-month-old child recently diagnosed with asthma. The child has had seven ear infections, and his 6-year-old brother has hearing loss from ear infections. The family readily admits to smoking in the home and the car, she said.

Along with myriad respiratory problems and ear infections, there is evidence that children exposed to smoke are more likely to face mental health disorders such as depression, Schaffer said.

Richard Smith, a spokesman for Reynolds America Inc., the cigarette manufacturer, sat in on the hearing, but did not testify. He told the News Service his company does not take a position on smoking bans.

"It is up to the population at-large to determine what is right for their communities," Smith said. "If there is enough will of the people to enact a smoking ban, then so be it. We stay out of those issues."

The committee heard testimony on other bills aimed at restricting tobacco use and sales.

A bill that would ban the sale of cigars in packages of less than five is opposed by the convenience store industry. Backers of the bill say it would hinder young people from buying popular flavored cigars, but convenience store owners said it would hurt their businesses without tackling the problem of young people smoking.

Steven Ryan, executive director of the New England Convenience Store Association, said banning the sale of smaller packages would financially harm convenience storeowners because adults who buy these cigars often buy them one at time.

Retailers work hard to refuse sales to minors, Ryan said, adding if young people are getting flavored cigars, "they are not getting them from retailers."

Another bill before the committee would restrict where people can smoke depending on where they live.

Rep. Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenberg) has filed a bill that would prohibit smoking in any residence other than detached single family homes.

Carmencita Feaster, 62, attributes her health problems to lingering smoke from a chain-smoker who lives near her at her Roxbury apartment building.

Feaster asked lawmakers to back the bill banning smoking in multi-dwelling buildings, saying the smoke is also harming her three-year-old grandson.

"My grandson, we had to call an ambulance because he woke up gasping for air. He will sit and rub his eyes," she told lawmakers.

Rep. Sean Garballey (D-Arlington) is pushing a bill to ban the sale of tobacco products at pharmacies or other places where health care workers are employed. Similar legislation was given a favorable recommendation by the committee last session, but stalled out in the House.

Lawmakers said they modeled legislation after a Boston city ordinance passed in 2009 that prohibits pharmacies from selling tobacco products. A handful of other communities across the state have similar bans, including Everett, Fall River, Lancaster, Needham, Newton, and Southborough.

Garballey said during the hearing it makes "a tremendous amount of sense" that where pharmacists are working that two aisles down "we should not be selling products that kill people,"

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